My favorite stop on the cruise was Finland. I just thought the country was absolutely beautiful. I have no desire to go in the winter... especially when our guide pointed out the 'Ice breakers' parked in the bay. Knowing that a large body of water becomes a solid ice cube in the winter is a bit of a turn off for me. The only time I may consider visiting is for Christmas... only because the Finns know best that Finland = The North Pole. Christmas in the North Pole? Awesome. Just don't tell the other Baltic countries because they call Santa theirs.
Anyways, although our tour was good, you could easily just walk off the ship and walk around downtown Helsinki. They had a great market going on and a few other tourist destinations within walking distance of each other.
Our first stop off the ship was Helsinki Cathedral in Senate Square. It's quite different from the other cathedrals we visited on this trip simply because it is more modest and monochromatic. I found it to be very beautiful.
After the Cathedral, we saw the olympic stadium and some significant architecture in Helsinki. We drove outside of the city to an outdoor museum (quite popular in all the countries we visited) where they have recreated or preserved original homesteads, churches, etc. of the early Finns. We were supposed to visit one in Tallinn but decided against it and I'm kind of glad we did. There are so many similarities between all the Baltic countries that it would have been a lot of the same. It was interesting to see how they stored their food and lived day in and day out in rugged weather in earlier times.
After leaving (but not before coffee and a cinnamon roll), we headed to the 'Rock Church.' This church was excavated and built into a giant rock (hence the name). It's one of the most popular destinations in Helsinki, welcoming half a million people a year. It was pretty amazing. And their bathrooms were awesome. Just sayin'.
My biggest regret is not ditching the tour here. We had our opportunity but we didn't realize how close the boat was so we thought it best to stay with the bus. I could have EASILY wandered the streets of Helsinki for a couple more hours but it wasn't meant to be.
If the opportunity presented itself, I would love to return to Finland.
Preferably from May to August.
Or December to visit Santa Claus.
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Until next time...
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